SNP promises to be ‘real opposition’ to Boris Johnson after winning 80% of Scottish seats
2 min read
The SNP will be the “real opposition” to Boris Johnson in Parliament after winning 80% of Scottish seats, the party's Westminster leader has declared.
Ian Blackford also said the campaign for a second referedum on independence was now "unstoppable" after the SNP returned 48 out of a possible 59 MPs to the House of Commons.
This was up 13 seats on their performance two years ago, while the Tories lost more than half the constituencies they held in Scotland.
Speaking at a press conference outside Parliament, Mr Blackford said: “We will be the effective opposition, the real opposition in Westminster."
Pointng out that the Scottish Tories had run on a campaign of opposition to "indyref2", Mr Blackford said: “We have a mandate from the people of Scotland, Boris Johnson does not."
"We have a very strong case, we will come with a proposition in the coming days,” he added.
“It’s not a good look for a Prime Minister who turns round and ignores the mandate of the Scottish people.”
Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove has insisted that the Government will not give the Scottish Parliament the legal power to hold another referendum.
But Mr Blackford said: “The fact of the matter is it’s not a good look for Michael Gove or Boris Johnson or anyone else to turn round to the people of Scotland and say ‘it doesn’t matter if your vote for a party and you give that party a mandate we’re going to ignore you’.
“We have a mandate from the people of Scotland, Boris does not.”
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
